This invention relates to tooth protectors and more particularly to dental guards for protecting the incisors of a patient undergoing medical procedures such an laryngoscopy, endotracheal intubation, and/or anesthesia.
Many tooth protecting devices have been devised for use during medical procedures and for athletic purposes. Each protector is comprised of an arcuate tray having in cross-section a U-shape and having in top view a horse-shoe shape. The arcuate or horse-shoe tray has a curvature (seen in the top view) that bends through not quite a 180 degree angle of arc to conform to the curvature of the upper or lower row of teeth of the person to be protected. The U-chaped channel or trough of the tray in some prior art tooth protectors is made great enough that the protector will be usable by essentially all adult and even adolescent patients representing a wide range of human dental geometries. Such universal-sized tooth protectors, however, must be extra-long and the channel widths quite wide and bulky at the tray ends because of the large variation in dental arch forms from person to person. Prior art tooth guards are often used in pairs: one for protecting the entire upper row of teeth, and the other for the lower row.
Especially because of this full arch design, prior art tooth guards have been cumbersome for medical personnel to insert, and during intubation have obstructed the view of the vocal cords, have interfered with the endotracheal tube placement, and frequently lacked the retentiveness to remain firmly in place during the procedure. For these reasons none of the prior art has obtained significant use for medical procedures even though damaged upper incisor teeth remains the most prevalent complication and source of damage claims for the aforementioned medical procedures.
Endotracheal intubation is a procedure normally performed by trained medical professionals, whereby a tube is inserted via the mouth into the trachea of a patient to allow mechanical ventilation of the lungs, suction of secretions from the bronchial passages, and administration of oxygen during general anesthesia for surgery because of serious illness, cardiac arrest, or coma. This tube is called an endotracheal tube, and its purpose is to act as a conduit for oxygen and/or anesthetic gases into the trachea. Placement of the endotracheal tube requires direct visualization of the vocal cords through which the tube must pass. Visualization of the vocal cords is accomplished by using a laryngoscope which consists of a handle, a blade extending at a right angle to the handle, and a light source at the end of the blade. The blade is inserted into the patient's mouth and extends back to the patient's soft palate and epiglottis. The light source at the tip of the blade illuminates these structures. Lifting the laryngoscope handle causes the blade to elevate the soft palate and epiglottis thereby exposing the vocal cords so that the endotracheal tube may be inserted through them. This lifting motion of the handle is often accompanied by a pivoting which places the proximal portion of the blade into direct contact with the delicate cutting edge of the upper incisors. This may result in considerable forces being applied by the laryngoscope blade to the upper incisors which can easily result in damage such as chipping or complete fracture.
A primary object of this invention is to provide an improved dental guard which is easily inserted by medical personnel and which better protects a patient's teeth against damage during intubation while at the same time allowing an unobstructed view and path of insertion for the endotracheal tube.
A further object of this invention is to provide a short dental guard for protecting the upper incisors of the patient without covering the molars toward providing larger channels of visibility and access.